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Second Mexican War
The Second Mexican War was a conflict fought from June 25th, 1881 to April 22nd, 1882. It was fought between the United States on one side and an alliance of the Confederate States, Britain and France on the other. The war began when hard-line Republican U.S. President James G. Blaine declared war on the C.S.A to prevent its purchase of the states of Sonora and Chihuahua from Mexico. Unfortunately, the US Army was completely unprepared after years of neglect and poor organisation. Hampered too by poor leadership, the US was defeated on all but one front. Blockaded by sea with no victories on land, the USA was forced to surrender, losing a chunk on northern Maine. This second humiliation finally rammed home to the people of the US that they needed European allies, for which the US had stead fastly avoided. It also lead to the emergence of the Remembrance period. Background A generation after the War of Secession ended, the Democrats, who had mainly walked softly around the CSA were finally voted out of office by a fed up public, who voted back in the Republicans under the leadership of James G Blaine. Blaine had run mostly on a hard line platform towards the CSA which by now appealed to the people of the USA. To the south, the Empire of Mexico was bankrupt, and desperately needed money to pay its creditors. The solution presented itself when the CSA opted to buy the provinces of Sonora and Chihuahua from the Mexicans for three million dollars. Realizing that this would give the Confederates a Pacific port, President Blaine threatened war if the sale went ahead. In the CSA, President James Longstreet knew that a quick, decisive war along with intervention from England and France was the CSA's only hope as he knew a grapple with the USA would end only in defeat for the Confederacy. England on the other hand didn't want anything to do with the CSA unless they agree to manumit their slaves, while France refused to do anything without England. He agreed to their demands, and all slaves within the CSA would be manumitted one year after the end of hostilities. With backing from both countries, Longstreet went ahead with the sale. On the 14th of June, CS forces moved into the newly purchased provenances and Blaine issued an ultimatum. Withdraw all forces from the Mexican territories within ten days or face war. CS forces in the provenances refused to budge and when the deadline passed, Blaine asked for and received a deceleration of war from Congress. The War Begins The US Army, under the leadership of Major General William Rosecrans had one major strategy in mind. To strike at the CSA all at once along the whole border, forcing the Confederates to defend their entire frontier, thus making it easier to overwhelm the CS Army for the numerically superior US Army. However, Rosecrans failed to coordinate his grand strategy with his field commanders, letting them hit out at their own leisure, rather than organising them to strike all at once. He also had no military plans for dealing with England and Canada to the north. He understood that France wouldn't move without England, and that England wouldn't support a slave nation, while the CSA wouldn't let their slaves go that easily. The CS Army, under the leaderships of General Thomas Jackson preferred the hit hard and fast, however he was restrained in his actions by President Longstreet. Although Longstreet had given a promises to manumit all slaves within the CSA, England had reinforced the Canadian Army with their own troops, and both England and France had moved naval squadrons into positions from which to strike the US, both nations still were hesitant to move. Longstreet understood that they did not fully trust the Confederates, and he wanted to present to the world that the CSA was a smaller nation defending itself from a larger aggressor. This he understood would finally bring their allies against the Yankees. Although Jackson hated this, he planed for such a campaign anyway. Confederate Front Maryland After war was declared, the commander of the Confederate forts outside Washington D.C., Colonel William Elliott demanded the surrender of the city. Rosecrans' adjutant, Captain Saul Berryman refused, and the bridge in Washington, leading from Maryland to Virginia was blown up from both ends. As the next day dawned, the Confederates opened up with an artillery bombardment on the city. Their targets were mainly government and military institutes, along with famous landmarks. The bombardment continued for a few hours before ceasing. Instead of trying to destroy the capital, it had been more of a demonstration that the South could be frightful if it so chose. Having hit a few targets, the Confederates had gone on to fight the war elsewhere, though they kept up their bombardment of the captail, but not as thoroughly as before. In order to take the pressure off the city, the US Army invaded Northern Virginia. This helped relieve the tension, and the forces around Washington withdrew. However, the defeat suffered by the Union allowed the Confederates to gather their strength along the Potomac and threaten the whole state. This finally lead to the US surrendering. Virginia The first major fight of the war occurred in Northern Virginia, where the Army of the Potomac clashed with the Army of Northern Virginia under the command of General Jackson at the Battle of Winchester. Here he routed the US Army and chased them back across the river. As he made ready to attack Harpers Ferry, he was stopped by Longstreet, who wanted to present the CSA as defending it's self. The Army of Northern Virginia would remain camped along the Potomac for the rest of the war, until the case fire dragged on too long that Jackson threatened to march into Maryland. Kentucky It was in Kentucky the major campaign of the war was fought on the banks of the Ohio. The U.S. Army, under General Orlando Wilcox tried to cross into the Confederate state of Kentucky and capture the city of Louisville, with an eye towards returning the state to the U.S. The C.S.A., under their own General-in-Chief Thomas Jackson, was able to establish excellent defensive positions, resulting in the Siege of Louisville. The formidable Confederate defenses forced Wilcox's troops to advance incrementally at best, with each move paid for in blood. The front remained the centre point of the war until the case-fire was called. In spite of Jackson's demands, US Forces remained encamped inside Louisville until January of 1882, when Blaine ordered a full withdraw in an attempt to draw the cease-fire out longer. Arkansas Arkansas was only a minor front compared with the others. Here, the US Army crossed the border and captured the town of Pocahontas. However, due to a lack of military coordination, or any strategic goals, this front didn't advance any further. Because this was the only victory the US Army had, it was loudly trumped by the War Department. Unfortunately, the town fell back into Confederate hands not long afterwords, but they did not pursue the fight across the border. Indian Territory The US landed the first blow of the war with a raid into Indian Territory by Colonel George Armstrong Custer. Armed with the latest weapon of war, the Gatling Gun, he lured first a war band of Kiowas and then a party of Confederate cavalry into an ambush, decimating both groups. The major consequence of this victory was that it showed the US as the aggressor in the eyes of the world. This lead to England and France declaring war on the United States. Kansas In retaliation for Custers Raid, the Kiowa and CS Cavalry launched continuous raiding parties into Kansas against local farms and infurstructure. Although the border was being patrolled by the Fifth Cavalry, they were transferred to the Utah Territory in order to put down a rebellion there. Security of the border was handed over to a volunteer Cavalry regiment who proved unable to stop both the Kiowa and Confederates for the remainder of the war. New Mexico Territory In the southwestern desert of the New Mexico Territory, the Trans-Mississippi Department under General Jeb Stuart led the Confederates only offensive operation against US territory. Although Stuart was aware of Longstreet's defensive strategy, he believed that the best way to defend the new territories was to make the Yankees defend their own. Although communications from Richmond were sketchy at best, Stuart heard no word of reproof from the War Department in regards to his plans, so he marched into New Mexico Territory as soon as the declaration of war reached him. The campaign got off to a promising start when he manged to hoax the US commander at Contention City, which impressed the Apaches under Geronimo leading to an alliance between the two forces. After this, they successfully lured US Forces into an ambush at the Battle of Madera Canyon before fighting the Battle of Tombstone. Now having cleared the territory of all US Forces, they returned to CS territory where they dispatched US Raiders with the newly formed Fifth Cavalry, now being called the Fifth Camelry. With no more opposition left, the New Mexico front remained quiet, until tensions between the Apaches and the CSA's new Hispanic subjects led to the destruction of the town of Cananea. This resulted in a break-down of the allience between the Apaches and the CSA, as both forces started fighting each other. Stuart himself was a casualty of this conflict. Utah Territory In the years following the War of Secession, the Mormons of the Utah Territory had grown despondent with the rule of the United States, and their refusal to grant them proper state hood within the union. When the Second Mexican War began in 1881, the US troops stationed within the Territory were shipped out to the threatened frontiers, and the Mormons under the leadership of John Taylor instigated an uprising. The uprising itself was actually quite limited in its scope. Aside from cutting off telegraph and railroad lines from Utah to the rest of the U.S., the Mormons took very little direct action against the United States, while the US Militia, all Mormons, still stationed in Utah did nothing. Since the capital, Salt Lake City straddled the Transcontinental Railroad, it cut the East Coast off from the West. It was vital that the Territory be brought under US control. In response, Brigadier General John Pope gathered as many guns as he could, and rather than engaging the rebels in combat, chose to over-awe them with his weapons. The tactic worked and the entire state fell back under Union control without a single shot being fired. In the aftermath, Pope used a constant display of overwhelming force to keep the populace from rioting, as he introduced draconian policies and hanged a number of Mormon leaders, leaving behind an angry Mormon population, determined to gain independence. 1st Cease Fire As the campaign in Louisville bogged down, the war for the United States was not going well. US forces had been defeated in Virginia, hoaxed in New Mexico Territory, and the Royal Navy was blockading the US, though limiting its naval action to responding only to aggression. CS President Longstreet asked for, and received a cease fire in order to offer peace terms. The terms were very generous, offering no reparations and a return to the status quo ante, with the CS keeping the Mexican territories it had purchased. Blaine refused flat out, claiming that the US, although hurt was not a beaten foe, and the war quickly began again. Canadian Front Although the British Empire had declared war on the United States, there were no plans for dealing with the Canadians to the north. During the war, the Royal Navy had formed and enforced a naval and economic blockade of the US, but had not committed any ground forces to the fight as they did not fully trust the Confederates to manumit their slaves. US commanders were trying not to antagonise the British while forces stationed there were ordered only to patrol the border. On the Canadian side, the Canadian Army had been mobilised and British Troops had been shipped to the country to bolster their strength. Although they had moved troops into position, the front remained quiet as England was hesitant to help the Confederacy. During the Siege of Louisville, the CS Army captured and returned US reporter, Frederick Douglass unharmed, thus proving to the British Empire that they were sincere on manumitting their slaves. After this political victory for the Confederates, the forces stationed in Canada finally moved against the US. Maine In order to force Blane to quit the war, a combined British and Canadian Army invaded Maine. This invasion had two purposes. To humiliate Blane, whose home state was Maine, and to finally settle the Canadian / Maine border which the British had never been satisfied with. The invasion was a success and the combined armies drove the Yankees south to the Penobscot River. Upon reaching the river, the armies halted and remained encamped along the river until the US surrendered. After the war, the border was redrawn in favour of the Canadians. Montana Territory In Montana, the US Army was likewise unprepared, and many volunteers found that they could only apply for the Volunteer service at military outposts, which were far and few between. The front was quiet for a good chunk of the war until a combined British and Canadian army under the leadership of British General Charles Gordon crossed the boarder with the intention of striking for Helena, and raiding the gold mines of the city. The US Army under the leadership of Brigadier General George Custer, Colonel Henry Welton and Colonel Theodore Roosevelt engaged the British and Canadians at the Battle of the Teton River. The battle ended when General Gordon's forces attacked the US defences head on and were decimated by Custer’s Gatling guns. The attackers were routed and forced to flee back to Canada.US forces were halted in their pursuit when word of a ceasefire finally reached them. For the remainder of the 2nd Cease Fire until the US surrender, what remained of the British cavalry and US Fifth Cavalry patroled the boarder. The victory here was greatly hyped in the US press after a string of disasters and gave US president Blaine the courage to drag the ceasefire out until April of 1882. As a result of this battle, Custer and Roosevelt became heroes of the war, prominent national figures, and rivals for the remainder of their lives. War at Sea The war at sea was a minor affair, due to the small size of the US Navy. The US Navy, much like the army wasn't a worthy fighting force after years of neglect but was still much larger than their Confederate counter part. In the Confederacy, as the deadline for the US ultimatum drew closer, the CS Navy took to sea. It's strategies and goals were unclear but it's prime objective was not to be caught and contained in their ports like they had been during the War of Secession. When war was declared, the ships of the US Navy were slow to react; Possibly due to the entrance of the Royal and French Navies into the war on the Confederacy's side. The US Navy had no major strategies for fighting the war against three Navies, while the prime goal of the Royal Navy was to implement a military and economic blockage of the United States. The Royal Navy's first blow landed on Lake Ontario, when a small fleet from Toronto attacked the cities of Rochester, Cleveland and Buffalo. After the first cease fire, and the Confederates convinced the Empire that they indeed intended to manumit their slaves, the Naval blockade began to intensify. The Royal Navy tightened it's blockade by bombarding New York and Boston on the East coast while the Pacific Squadron based at Hawaii attacked the US West Coast. In conjunction with the French Navy, whose ships sailed up from Mexico to bombard Los Angeles, the Royal Navy attacked San Francisco. This attack also included a raid of Royal Marines on the San Francisco mint. This raid proved successful while the commander of San Francisco, Colonel William Sherman, proved helpless to stop it. After the San Francisco raid, the west coast naval force split off and attacked Seattle, while the offensive on the Great Lakes branched out to Lake Erie, where the port city of Erie was attacked. After these attacks, what little remained of the US Navy was confined to their ports as the ships of both England and France now lay at anchor outside all major port cities of the US, blockading both coastlines. Their major goals completed, the blockade of the US was kept in place for the duration of the war, and the ensuing cease fire, until the US agreed to surrender. 2nd Cease Fire By November of 1881, the war for the US was going badly, with defeats on all fronts and forces closing in from five different sides. US commanders seemed to have little in the way of strategies while their Confederate counterparts were beating them at every turn. General and Chief of US Forces Rosecrans started drinking heavily, becoming increasingly reclusive and even openly critical of US President Blaine. When the US Army was defeated in Maine, resulting in half the state being annexed into Canada, he lost his cool with the president, telling him in no uncertain terms that the war was lost, and that he should take the best offer he can. Shortly after, Jackson launched his counter attack in Kentucky that destroyed the US salient there, and Blaine asked for an unconditional cease fire along all fronts. The President was hesitant to surrender as he realised he would be condemned for losing the war, and he didn't want to lose the northern part of his home state of Maine. However, up in Montana Territory, the US Army there had dealt the invading British and Canadian Army a savage blow. It was a much needed victory and gave Blaine some hope. Sadly, he too saw the writing on the wall, and as the months dragged on, the Republicans split with a faction joining the Socialists, and started turning on the pressure to end the war with public demonstrations. Final Ultimatum and Surrender As the ceasefire dragged into April, the patience of the Confederacy finally wore out. After Easter passed, CS minister to the USA, Judah P. Benjamin along with General Jackson issued the US one final ultimatum. They had 48 hours to surrender on Confederate terms or the war would begin again. All throughout May of 1882, General Jackson had shipped men by rail to bolster the Army of Northern Virginia, which was encamped along the Potomac. Should Blaine refuse, they would attack Washington DC and annex the entire state of Maryland into the Confederacy, much like the British and Canadians had done to the northern half of Mane. Faced with no way out, Blaine agreed. Long term effect Even up until the end of the Second Mexican War, the leaders of the United States stubbornly heeded George Washington's farewell address warning against "entangling European alliances". After the Second Mexican War, frustrated German observers pointed out to President Blaine that the Confederate States had decisively beaten the United States in two major wars ''specifically because ''the Confederacy had allied with Britain and France. Faced with the humiliating defeat of the Second Mexican War, the message finally got through to the United States' leaders that the USA needed a counterbalance to the CSA's allies. To that end, they formed an alliance with Germany, Austria-Hungary, and Italy, which would become the Central Powers. The Confederacy continued its alliance with Britain and France. The price for this was manumission of the slaves. Out of this amendment to the Confederate Constitution, and the admittance of the new states of Chihuahua and Sonora, the Confederacy developed political parties, the Whigs and Radical Liberals. Unfortunately, the Confederate victory would also lead to the CSA becoming complacent about future conflict with the USA. In the United States, mandatory military service was introduced, as was rationing. April 22 was designated Remembrance Day in honor of the country's defeat in two wars. The Statue of Remembrance, a woman with a sword, was erected in New York harbor. The Republicans became a regional party as about one-third of their support went with Abraham Lincoln into the Socialist Party and another third went to the Democratic Party. By 1914, the Socialists would eventually replace the Republicans (who faded into obscurity) as the second-rank party in the United States. In Germany, Alfred von Schlieffen developed the Schleiffen Plan based on his studies of Robert E. Lee's victory at Camp Hill. The plan was employed in the Great War, which the Central Powers eventually won. Second Mexican War Second Mexican War Category:Wars Involving the United States Category:Wars Involving Britain Category:Wars Involving the Confederate States Category:Wars Involving France